 While the Crowing County Historical Museum is undergoing major renovations this fall, the improvements will extend the life of the building that houses the important history of Crowing County. Our reporter Rachel Johnson has more. The Crowing County Historical Museum houses a multitude of historical artifacts, exhibits, art and more. Everything we exhibit here has something to do with the history of Crowing County, everywhere from logging to railroad. The building was constructed in 1917 and was previously the home of the county sheriff and the county jail. In the 70s, there was a need for a larger jail, so they're going to actually tear this building down. Instead, they decided to make it into a county museum. The museum houses everything from guns from the Civil War to a research library filled with historical photographs, maps and books. One of the exhibits is two original preserved jail cells that were used by the county from 1917 through 1979. Since the building is over a hundred years old, renovations were needed to extend the life of the historic building. We knew that there was needs for the building as far as securing the envelope of the building and in 2010 we had an assessment done on the building which highlighted all the needs. From there, the county applied for a grant with the Minnesota Historical Society for funds to put forward the construction plan. Sometimes that were identified were roof repairs that needed to be done. There's a tuck pointing, the brick work outside, the mortar has come out, so there's tuck pointing repairs to be done. The gutters have some breaks in them. Those need to be repaired and then windows are the other big thing. The renovation and repairs will be an integral part in preserving the building for future generations. It's just great that the building's going to be repaired because it's an important part of the history of the community. It is a great asset of Crow Wing County. It shows the history of the area and to lose an asset like that would not be good. The project is expected to be completed before the new year. Reporting from Brainerd, Rachel Johnson, Lakeland News. The museum will remain open to the public throughout the duration of the construction. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.